


Hey I Just Met You (And This Is Legally Unadvised)

by IAmNotGoodatthisnamingthing



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Cutesy, M/M, Meet-Cute, Past Kim Junmyeon | Suho/Wu Yi Fan | Kris, Sort Of, kind of, things I write when I'm procrastinating on a multichaptered fic's climax
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:55:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26801779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IAmNotGoodatthisnamingthing/pseuds/IAmNotGoodatthisnamingthing
Summary: "I have been legally advised to not speak to you, but if you want cookies there's some on that shelf"Or where Junmyeon and Yifan are getting a divorce, Yixing has volunteered to help collect Junmyeon's things from Yifan's place, and Yifan's legal counsel moonlights as the cautionary voice in his head
Relationships: Wu Yi Fan | Kris/Zhang Yi Xing | Lay
Comments: 6
Kudos: 39





	Hey I Just Met You (And This Is Legally Unadvised)

To say Yifan has no lingering feelings about his divorce from Junmyeon is an understatement.

Theirs had been a marriage of deliberate design and no romantic intentions, a matchmaking affair that had seen Junmyeon's company's stock market prices skyrocket and earned Yifan clout in his field of work. A film producer by choice, and a conglomerate director's son by biology, Yifan had posed no objections when his parents had first brought up the marriage arrangement with Junmyeon, who was being primed by his father - another of the same conglomerate's director - to take up a more executive managerial position. The proposed marriage would cut out Junmyeon to be a reliable family man, a proper fit to be a public figure for the conglomerate, and earn copious amounts of profit for Yifan's father, profit a share of which would be invested in Yifan's art house, so he had shrugged his assent and agreed to it.

Meeting with Junmyeon was... _interesting_.

Their first conversation had been politely detached, both agreeing to not even consider any thoughts of a budding romance (or friendship) and setting up terms for their upcoming nuptials in one of the most famed 5-star restaurants in the country. In no life, would Yifan consider striking up friendship with Junmyeon, who seemed more interested in his phone and business schedule than the heartfelt rendition of Tchaikovsky's Pas de Deux that the evening's musicians had been playing. He was fine with agreeing to cohabit with Junmyeon post marriage and stay out of each other's ways (and more keen on booking the musician trio - CBX - for an upcoming project).

Their first encounter had ended with a polite but firm handshake and an exchanging of contacts of their family lawyers to set up a pre-nup. Which was all fine and peachy. As was their wedding reception cake (fine _and_ peachy, that is). Their first night as husband and husband, Junmyeon had gleefully taken a sleeping pill and gone to sleep in the bedroom he'd chosen to reside in, but only after instructing the house butler to not wake him up before 12. Yifan had acquired a bottle of red from the cellar and per usual habit, spent the night watching old European noir and taking diligent notes on framing techniques.

As per their agreement, neither had tried to butt into each other's lives except to extend plus-one invitations to events where they were expected to present a united front. Somewhere down the past 3 years, they had become cautiously friendly, alright with catching breakfast together on weekend midmornings and sending congratulatory flower bouquets after major achievements.

He shouldn't have been, but Yifan was still taken aback when Junmyeon one fine Saturday morning slid a large manila envelope his way and announced he wanted a divorce (which he was legally allowed to do anytime, as per clause 3.6 of their pre-nup).

"You can look this over, it's pretty standard and there's no slandering or defamation from my part," Junmyeon had said, sliding on a pair of shades onto his face. "I'd prefer a mutually beneficial out-of-court resolution, but feel free to contact my lawyer Zitao if your counsel advises any differently."

"You've changed your lawyer," is what Yifan had dumbly replied, already planning to dispatch the document Luhan's way as soon as possible.

"Yeah, the family lawyer seemed a bit...too conservatice for my taste," Junmyeon had wrinkled his nose. "You can keep the house, of course. After all, it was a present from your parents. But I'd like the Cayenne and the Merc."

"Noted. I'll put Luhan in touch with this Zitao, and they can hash it out," Yifan had nodded, eyeing the cabin bag parked beside Junmyeon's chair and understanding it for the dismissal it was. "Let me know when you'd like to come by and collect your clothes and other things. I'll be away for next weeks, for a film shooting."

"I have my important case files here already," Junmyeon had said, patting his bag. "I'll send someone over for some of my personal effects. Fell free to dispose or donate anything else that might get left behind."

"Fair enough. I think Luhan would advise to get that in writing," Kris had replied.

"Noted," Junmyeon had said, getting up.

"This is it, then," Yifan had said, standing up and extending a hand to Junmyeon. "Good luck with the rest of your life, I guess."

"Goodbye, Wu Yifan," Junmyeon had said, firmly shaking his hand. "It was great cohabitating with you. Now that we're well established in our fields, I don't see the point in carrying forward this meaningless farce."

Yifan can only nod, as Junmyeon had cracked a wry smile. "Send me happy birthday texts sometimes."

And that had been that.

And here Yifan was, a whole six weeks later, standing at the foyer of his house and staring at a man wearing ripped jeans and a silk shirt.

He blinks, before clearing his throat. "Yixing, you said?"

"Zhang Yixing, Kim Junmyeon's next door neighbour," he pauses to scratch his neck. "Erm, his new neighbour, since you know he moved out from here."

"Junmyeon sent you?" Yifan asks incredulously, because it's highly unlike Junmyeon to trust someone who he hadn't spent a decade growing up with or running biannual security checks on, much less a new neighbour, especially one wearing artfully ripped jeans.

"I live with his lawyer Tao, who is like my distant cousin. And I help run a homeless shelter," Yixing explains. "Junmyeon said I could take his stuffs and either repurpose them for the shelter residents or give away, so I'm here."

"Right," Yifan replies slowly, trying to make sense of whether to believe in this.

"Wait, Junmyeon gave me a note to show you that I'm...wait, let me think of the word he used," Yixing pauses yet again, this time mumbling under his breath rapidly, before snapping his fingers together. "Right! I have a signed letter from Junmyeon and Tao-tao that says I'm authorised to collect his things on his behalf."

...and that does sound like something Junmyeon would do (perhaps even on stamped paper?), so Yifan breathes easy and decides to forego texting Junmyeon to verify.

"Alright, come on in then," Yifan replies, ushering in Yixing, who bestows a dimpled smile on him (which makes Yifan blink rapidly a couple of times). "Erm, I'd offer the services of my butler, but he is down with the flu. But Junmyeon's things have been packed into boxes and placed in the den, so that should make your job easier."

"Sweet!" Yixing does a fist pump. "Do you mind if I spend a bit of time sorting through things? I brought bags and everything."

"Go for it," Yifan shrugs, walking towards the den. "I'd offer to help, but I'm pretty sure I'd be legally advised to not interact with my soon-to-be-ex-husband's contacts plus I have an upcoming deadline, so you'll have to excuse me after I show you to the den."

"No problem!" Yixing beams, following Yifan with a bounce in his step. "I can keep myself entertained. Is there a pair of headphones I can borrow?"

"I can see if I have something to spare," Yifan frowns to himself, wondering if it would be advisable to leave Yixing alone on the ground floor to go rummage through his office on the second floor. Yifan has a feeling Luhan would flick his head and scream no at his face. "Oh," he exclaims, suddenly remembering. "I do have a good set in the library right across from the den. I'll get that for you. Den's right through that door, I'll join you in a minute," and with that Yifan speedwalks away, carefully detaching his headphone from his computer setup before taking it to the den.

"Here," he offers to Yixing, who takes one quick look at the headphone before detailing out it's model and specs.

"That's...correct," Yifan says, eyes shifting between his (high-end and frankly irresponsibly expensive) bass-boosting headphones and Yixing who's looking more sheepish by the minute.

"I do a bit of sound production," Yixing says self-deprecatingly, reaching out to grab the headphones. "And that's the set I usually use. I heard you are in the film industry?"

"Director and cinematographer, mostly noir or indie," Yifan shrugs, knowing not much about sound engineering but a lot about the exclusive price tag of this particular set of headphones. "Would I have heard anything of your production?"

"Not in the space of those genres probably," Yixing shakes his head. "Have you heard of SKY, by any chance?"

"The trap/rap group who sell out stadium concerts in 2.5 minutes?"

"The very same," Yixing laughs. "I help produce a lot of their dance-heavy and fusion EDM tracks. Good kids."

"I'm sure," Yifan nods. "One of them, Shixun I think? was recommended by one of my regular actors, Kyungsoo, for an upcoming project. Think I should invite him to audition?"

"Sehunnie would be overjoyed," Yixing says, his whole face lighting up in a fond smile. "Sehunnie loves the music and the dancing, don't get me wrong, but he's always been interested in movies and acting too, and both of his past acting roles were critically acclaimed, so you should!"

"Right, yeah. Good to know," Yifan says faintly, trying to blink away the dazzle of Yixing's sparkly smile from behind his eyes. "So, erm, I should be going and writing and stuff. Just come knock on the library door," he says, gesturing to the room across the corridor. "Whenever you're ready to leave."

"Will do, Mr. Wu," Yixing smiles yet again, rummaging around his backpack for his phone.

"There's...some cookies on that shelf, if you want," Yifan says, still lingering by the den's doorway. "And there should be some tape and scissors inside the writing desk in front of the window."

"Thanks for your kindness, Mr. Wu," Yixing smiles yet again. "Don't worry I will work quietly and be out of your hair in no time!"

And so Yifan takes his leave, to go park himself in the dark library and review some footage for his current project on his computer setup.

He doesn't realize he's distracted until he blinks and his screen shows he has let over 15 minutes of footage to play at a go (which is an atrocious 10 times over his usual first edit limit). So he quickly hits pause on the project, and rewinds the footage back to where he'd last left it (before going to answer his door). He then saves the footage twice (in two different working folders in separate location).

Only then does Yifan allow himself to slouch on his chair and pout at his screen.

It's highly unlike him to be distracted during work. One of his most valued traits is his ability to complete focus on his projects while working. In university, he had once sat glued to his laptop in his dorm editing singlemindedly through a fire drill, unaware of his fellow students panickedly rushing outside or of campus security sounding sirens and evacuating people. So, he's miffed that his mind is only half focused on his work, the other half lazily wondering about Yixing and what he was up to now.

 _Yixing_. What a befittingly pretty name for a pretty person. With a beatific smile. With dimples no less. And pretty slanted eyes. And a sharp jawline. And nicely shaped legs.

 _Huh_ , it had been a good minute since Yifan had looked at another person and been enamored. In his line of work, Yifan was exposed to stunningly beautiful people on the regular, so it could not have been just Yixing's looks.

Perhaps it was his soft, mellifluous voice or his peculiarly soft mannerisms?

Who knows, either way Yifan was intrigued - enough to find out more. Only subconsciously aware of his actions, Yifan unlocks his phone and opens up Google in incognito mode. _Now what to type?_

 _SKY producer Yixing_ , Yifan types first. It leads to only vague results for some pottery shop. Yifan scrolls through 2 pages worth of the misleading links before frowning, deciding to add onto his search parameters.

 _SKY producer chinese AND Zhang Yixing_ , Yifan commits to a Boolean search, and hits jackpot - coming across photos of Yixing with the three modelesque boygroup members and various mentions of SKY and their lead producer Lay Zhang, interspersed between news of SKY's latest release and links to fanfiction sites.

Yifan straightens up in his seat, and hits one of the article. And then another. And then another, spending a good half hour scrolling through Instagram links and Twitter GIFs until he comes across Yixing's personal weibo, where he finds just about an equal amount of candid photos with SKY members and who Yifan assumes are his friends as there are reblogged photos of various baby animals, links to his soundcloud (which Yifan immediately bookmarks for later), petitions and links for a few community donation projects, and a some thirst trap-esque gym selfies (which Yifan spends far too long checking out).

Yixing seems like a genuine person, someone Yifan would like to know better, or at least talk to. Something about him just pulled Yifan in, and _why again was he sitting here when he could be out there finding out more about Yixing?_

 _Because he was here to collect Yifan's ex's effects, and it would be legally advised to not approach him romantically before his divorce finalisation,_ a voice sounding almost exactly like Luhan drolled tinnily in Yifan's head.

But wait, _just because he couldn't flirt now, doesn't mean he could not interact or find out more about Yixing, right_? Ignoring the Luhan-voiced Jiminy Cricket screaming no in his mind, Yifan stood up and strolled out of the library and into the den, before coming to a pause at the doorway.

"Did you need anything?" Yixing asks, from where he's sitting cross-legged on the floor and sifting through a bag of dress shoes.

"Umm," Yifan stalls, not having thought this far. "I came here for my daily dose of sunlight?" he fibs hastily, pointing to the sofa at the far end of the room where sunrays mottled the flowery motif of the furniture piece.

"Ah, of course," Yixing smiles easily. "Don't let me interrupt you, and don't worry I'm almost done. I only have 5 more boxes to sort through."

"great," Yifan mumbles, shuffling to the sofa and curling up on it.

He spends some time deliberating on ways to start conversation with Yixing (while fighting away the sweat forming from the sunlight right on his hairline), in which time Yixing manages to quickly sort through 2 more boxes. It's when he's opening the third box that Yifan speaks up.

"Yixing's a Chinese name, isn't it?" Yifan asks.

"So is Wu," Yixing giggles.

"Touche," Yifan cracks a grin. "And it's Yifan."

"Yifan?" Yixing asks, abandoning the box to stare quizzically.

"My uh-name," Yifan says, averting his eyes to the floor. "I'm Chinese by descent, but I was born and brought up here."

"I was born in Changsha," Yixing smiles. "University brought me here."

"What did you study, sound engineering?" Yifan asks conversationally.

"Modern dance actually. Sound engineering was my minor," Yixing shrugs, holding up a scarf contemplatively. "And before you ask for that particular story of how I ended up in sound, I'll have you know that's not a story I'm keen on telling to just about anyone."

And this, _right here_ , would have been a good opportunity for Yifan to swoop in with a flirty comment, if only he was - you know - not legally obligated to be otherwise.

"Neat," he says instead, searching for another conversation topic. "Do you like classical music?"

"As much as I like any other genre," Yixing winks conspiratorially. "I'm a try all things once before passing judgment kind of person."

_And that has to be flirting, right? (Legally obligated, Luhan's voice hisses inside Yifan's brain.)_

"Of course, it's just you have fingers suitable for a piano," Yifan points out, taking this chance to closely study Yixing's graceful fingers.

"Ah piano, my old frenemy," Yixing laughs. "I hated playing it as a child, but my ability to recognise music keys by ear is now sort of a party trick. Jonginnie is all up for setting up a gambling scheme around my skill, but Yeollie always holds him back from actually executing it."

"Your SKY kids?" Yifan, asks, recognising the names from the earlier Google search results.

"The one and only," Yixing laughs. "I actually agreed to do this for Junmyeon so I could avoid them for a bit. Yeollie crashed at my couch last night after a jamming session, and knowing the other two, they would have come looking for food and bursting with music ideas within 11, so I found myself a way to take a break."

"Glad my divorce could be of help," Yifan quips.

"Can I ask," Yixing starts, biting his lips. "About your divorce, I mean? You'll possibly be legally advised to not reply, but neither Junmyeon nor you look either upset or fazed by the end of your marriage."

"We had a good arrangement, which was beneficial for us both," Yifan explains vaguely, trying not to insinuate anything outright (diligently adhering to clause number 8.2 of the pre-nup terms).

"Huh," Yixing says, looking down on his lap, looking like he had 15 more questions he wanted to follow up with, but knowing Yifan wouldn't answer any of them straightforwardly. And so, the duo lapsed into a pregnant silence.

"And that should be it," Yixing exclaims after a while, taping shut the last box with a sense of accomplishment. "Sealed boxes are for donations, garbage bags are for disposal. Give me a couple of minutes to load these in my car."

"You take care of the donations, I'll get rid of the disposals," Yifan offers, standing up and walking towards Yixing.

"I thought you were legally advised to not help me sort Junmyeon's effects?" Yixing asks wryly.

"I'm not helping," Yifan deadpans. "The garbage bags are blocking my favourite spot to stare at on the floor, so I'm actually doing this for myself."

Yixing bursts into giggles, his nose scrunching most attractively and dimples on both cheeks coming out to play, and Yifan feels beyond pleased to be the cause of Yixing's mirth. (Luhan's voice is still hissing warning bells in Yifan's mind, but Yifan is finding it easy to ignore when blessed with the peals of Yixing's laughter).

"In that case," Yixing says once he's somewhat regained his breath. "Far be it for me to stop your decluttering journey."

Between exchanging quick smiles every time their respective decluttering trips (Yixing's to his car with the cardboard boxes, and Yifan's to the side-porch garbage collection installation with the trash bags) coincide, they make quick work of cleaning up until they convene one last time in the den which is now devoid of boxes.

"I would offer to clean," Yixing says, looking at the (mostly dust-free) floor. "But I'm sure I have overstayed my welcome and then some."

"You haven't," Yifan assures. "But I was wondering if I could have your number? As corroborative evidence, in case Junmyeon finds something missing and I'm charged for it?" Yifan ends his spiel unable to meet Yixing's eyes, hoping against hope that there's not a blush reddening his ears.

"That sounds reasonable," Yixing says nonchalantly, stepping closer. "I suppose you'd want a selfie too, as evidence of course, to prove I was here?"

"Of course!" Yifan leaps at the chance to take a picture with Yixing (and definitely stare at it aimlessly for the next 2 days). "That would be legally advised of course."

"Sure," Yixing draws closer, only a bit of amusement seeping into his tone. "How do you want me?"

"Here is okay," Yifan almost-squeaks when Yixing stops less than a half-step away from him.

At this distance, he can admire the curl of Yixing's eyelashes up close and smell the lavender and honey scent of his perfume (or perhaps it's shampoo?), and he hopes Yixing cannot hear the heartbeat hammering in his chest, or notice the slight tremor in his hand that holds up his camera.

They snap a selfie (or ten; Yifan may have accidentally clicked on the Burst photo option), and Yixing leans a bit more in his space to study their photo together.

"If it's not legally unadvised, send that photo to me maybe?" Yixing asks, lifting satisfied but hopeful eyes at Yifan, who can only nod numbly as he files away Yixing's contact details.

"Also," Yixing starts, lightly biting his lips. "I was wondering if you'd like to get coffee or something with me, maybe after your divorce is finalised?"

And _oh, Yixing is definitely displaying interest in him._

"I think it would be legally advised to not commit to anything," Yifan begins sagely, before breaking into a goofy smile. "But I suppose, if three weeks from now, I was planning to have coffee at the new chocolatier place that's opening this weekend, and you happened to drop by, it would be a most pleasant experience for me."

Yixing bestows him with a lovely smile, gentle in its sincerity, and Yifan allows himself to hold out his hand for a handshake that lingers far longer than would be legally advised.

**Author's Note:**

> That's all friends! Let me know your thoughts!


End file.
